Ways to help. We need your help in developing free software drivers and other low-level software to run network routers. One way to do this is to contact the device manufacturer and ask them to release their specifications and/or code as free software. If you know of routers that do not require the use of proprietary software please let us know by contacting hardware@fsf.org. Projects seeking funding in this area should consider applying for a grant from the NLnet Foundation.

Accessing Google's data may not be possible, so any
client should work with various other data sources, including free map
data projects such as Open Street Maps.

Ways to help.Develop or improve a 3D rendering engine that reads KML files on par with Google Earth. Contribute to free map data services such as the Open Street Maps project, and contribute to geographical map programs such as Marble.

GNU Octave is a high-level language, primarily intended for numerical computations. It provides a convenient command-line interface for solving linear and nonlinear problems numerically, and for performing other numerical experiments using a language that is mostly compatible with Matlab.

Ways to help. We encourage you to create high-level packages
in GNU Octave with the goal of creating replacement functions for
packages provided by Matlab. You can learn more about getting involved in GNU Octave by joining their mailing list and checking the "help wanted" page.

Although Gnash handles many popular sites and media (such as YouTube), much work is needed to be a full replacement for Adobe's Flash player. Visit http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/
for more details about installing and using Gnash.

Ways to help. The easiest way to start helping the Gnash project is to use the program and to file bug reports. If you want to find out how to become a contributor to the Gnash project, consider joining the
Gnash developers mailing list (gnash-dev@gnu.org), the Gnash discussion mailing list (gnash@gnu.org), or dropping by #gnash channel on irc.freenode.net.

In many cases the BIOS is the only thing standing in the
way of a person running their system using exclusively free software (learn more about the FSF's Campaign for a Free BIOS). Visit http://www.coreboot.org to learn more about the development of Coreboot, supported systems, and how you can get started running a free BIOS.

Ways to help. One of the biggest ways you can help the Coreboot project is to encourage vendors to release their specifications so that the Coreboot software can be made to run on those systems. If you wish to learn more about becoming a Coreboot developer, visit the #coreboot channel on irc.freenode.net, or join the Coreboot mailing list to talk with the current developers. One additional area where there is a need for development and attention is in the development of a free software VGA BIOS on graphics cards. We encourage you to pressure graphics card manufacturers to release their VGA BIOS as free software. If you'd like to begin development on a free software VGA BIOS, a good starting point would be the Geode LX chipset by AMD, for which full documentation is available.

The Chinese government, for example, was found to have been spying on Skype conversations already, and they are probably not the only ones. We do not want to encourage the creation of a Skype compatible client, but instead, we want to encourage you to create, contribute to, or promote the use of free software replacements for Skype, such as Ekiga, and to encourage adoption and use of free VoIP, video, and chat protocols such as SIP and XMPP/Jingle.

Ways to help. The easiest way to help is to not use Skype and to encourage the use of a free software replacement instead. There are a number of programs, such as Ekiga, Twinkle, Coccinella, QuteCom, and Jitsi that are working replacements for Skype. The Mingle project builds on Jabber to provide multiparty calling, and is supported by a grant from the NLnet Foundation. NLnet also supports the openMSRP project in this area. Users of such programs should file bug reports and feature requests to the projects. If you are not a developer, you can consider contributing to documentation and tutorials for such projects, as well as filing feature and bug requests. Developers should consider helping free software VoIP and video, chat, and multimedia communications projects.

More and more everyday computer users are becoming amateur videographers, and we need to make sure that their operating systems come complete with free software to meet their needs.

Ways to help.There are a number of quality, free software video editing programs, such as Kino, Cinelerra, AVIDemux, Kdenlive, LiVES, Lumiera, as well as PiTiVi, Blender, and the Open Movie Editor. Along the way, the easiest way to help is to use these editors and to encourage others to do the same. You can help these projects directly by submitting bug reports, adding features, improving usability, and creating tutorials, guides, and documentation.